Information properties

Like any object, information has properties (objects are distinguishable by their properties). A characteristic feature of information, distinguishing it from other objects in nature and society, is the dualism noted above: the properties of information are influenced by both the properties of the data that comprise its content and the properties of the methods that interact with the data during the information process.

1. Adequacy

The degree to which the information received by the consumer corresponds to what the author intended in its content (i.e., the data).
The adequacy of information is sometimes mistakenly confused with its reliability. These are completely different qualities. One example of adequate but unreliable information is as follows: if a knowingly false report appears in a newspaper on April 1st, it can be considered adequate. It should be interpreted as entertainment rather than informational. The same report published on April 2nd would be both unreliable and inadequate.

2. Relevance

The degree of correspondence of information to the current moment in time.

3. Reproducibility and transferability

The reproducibility of information is closely linked to its transferability and is not an independent, basic property. While transferability implies that spatial relationships between the parts of the system between which information is transferred should not be considered significant, reproducibility characterizes the inexhaustibility and inexhaustibility of information, i.e., that when copied, information remains identical to itself.

4. Discreteness

Information consists of individual factual data transmitted as separate messages.

5. Sufficiency

The content completeness of the reported set of indicators for decision making.

6. Reliability

Correspondence of information to the objective reality (both current and past) of the surrounding world.

The reliability of information is influenced by both the reliability of the data and the adequacy of the methods used to obtain it.

7. Accessibility

The degree of possibility of obtaining this or that information.

8. Memorability

We will call the information being remembered macroscopic (meaning the spatial scale of the memory cell and the time of memorization). It is precisely with macroscopic information that we deal in real practice.

9. Redundancy

In information theory, redundancy refers to the inclusion of predictable or repeated elements that exceed the minimum information required to convey a message. While often perceived as inefficiency, redundancy is a fundamental feature that ensures robust communication by allowing for error detection and correction in noisy environments.

Linguistic and Visual Redundancy

• Natural Language: Human languages are highly redundant, which facilitates comprehension even when parts of a message are obscured or distorted. Estimates suggest that English text contains approximately 80% redundancy relative to its minimal theoretical information content. This inherent predictability allows readers to infer missing or illegible words based on contextual, grammatical, and semantic cues.

• Visual and Multimedia Data: Visual and video content possess significantly higher levels of redundancy. Because video frames often contain similar visual information over time—a phenomenon known as temporal redundancy—much of the data is predictable. This high level of redundancy allows human observers to process complex scenes and potentially “tune out” or focus on specific elements without losing the core meaning.

Strategic Redundancy in Information Technology

In the digital age, the management of data redundancy is a critical aspect of system design, serving as a delicate balance between resource utilization and operational resilience:

• Intentional Redundancy (Resilience): Organizations intentionally create redundant copies of data to ensure high availability, data integrity, and disaster recovery. By replicating data across servers or geographic locations, systems can maintain operations despite hardware failures, cyberattacks, or natural disasters. This is essential for maintaining “five nines” (99.999%) uptime in mission-critical sectors like finance and healthcare.

• Unintentional Redundancy (Inefficiency): Conversely, unintentional or unmanaged redundancy can lead to increased storage costs, performance degradation, and data inconsistencies. In large-scale database management, techniques like deduplication are used to remove unnecessary copies, optimizing efficiency without compromising data safety.

10. Brevity

The degree of conciseness of the presentation of the information provided.

11. Continuity

Information accumulates and develops progressively.

12. Objectivity and subjectivity

Information about which methods introduce a smaller subjective element is considered more objective.

13. Completeness

Sufficiency of information for decision making.

14. Clarity

Correspondence of the information content to the consumer’s level of knowledge.

15. Transformability

A fundamental property of information. It means that information can change the mode and form of its existence. Copyability is a type of information transformation in which its quantity does not change. Generally, the quantity of information changes during transformation processes, but cannot increase.

16. Representativeness

Correctness of selection and formation of information for adequate reflection of the transmitted phenomenon.

17.Timeliness

The degree of correspondence between the moment of receipt of information and the designated moment in time.

18. Substantiality

Semantic capacity of information, equal to the ratio of the amount of semantic information in a message to the volume of processed data.

19. Value

The value of information depends on how important it is for solving a problem, as well as on how much it will be used in the future in any type of human activity.

Aspects of information

In information theory, three aspects are considered.

1. Pragmatic aspect

Reflects the relevance of information to the purpose for which the information subject intends to use it. Defining information as the useful content of data primarily reflects the pragmatic aspect. From this perspective, the consumer properties of information are analyzed. However, limiting oneself to this aspect alone will lose the connection between information and data, limiting the possibilities for effective data use.

2. Semantic aspect

Determines the degree of correspondence between an information object and its image contained in the information (data), i.e., characterizes the semantic content of the information. In the semantic aspect, information is divided into various information units that have semantic connections both among themselves and, possibly, with the smaller information units within them. Information units can reflect various aspects of the information object or its constituent parts.

3. Syntactic aspect

Associated with the form in which information is presented and does not affect its semantic content. Thus, data represents information in a syntactic sense.

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